The effects of acid rain. Image credit penguinsofchemistry.wordpress.com
ZIMSEC O Level Combined Science Notes: Experiment To show the effect of sulphuric acid on some materials
Aim: To show the effect of sulphuric acid on some materials
Materials: dilute sulphuric acid, wood, copper, plastic, iron, steel, aluminium, solid cement, brick, granite, limestone, marble/mortar, piece of tin can, plastic lids
Method
- Into each plastic lid place a different material
- Half fill each test tube with dilute sulphuric acid (which is more concentrated than acid rain to speed up the reaction) and pour it into each lid
- Leave the materials to stand for a day or two
Observation and Results
- Wood is partially hydrolyzed which results in it loosing its strong structure and it becomes weak and can easily be broken.
- Aluminum reacts very slowly and is corroded as it forms aluminum sulphate which is structurally weak
- Iron is corroded by sulphuric acid
- Copper remains intact
- Some plastics might be corroded by sulphuric acid but most do not so the plastic will likely remain intact
- Steel is corroded and so is limestone
- The acid also decomposes marble/mortar and reacts/weakens/corrodes cement
Conclusion
- Most construction materials react with sulphuric acid
To access more topics go to the Combined Science Notes page
